Saturday, September 27, 2014

September Daring Bakers' Challenge - Kolache

The September Daring Bakers’ challenge was brought to us by Lucie from ChezLucie. She challenged us to make a true Czech treat –Kolaches!

I was super excited for this month's challenge. I'm not sure if you remember, but I've actually made kolache before. It was a Sourdough Surprises challenge a few months back (okay, more like almost a year ago!) and, in case you don't remember that post, it's here, and they were amazingly delicious.

So when I saw that I'd have the opportunity to make them again (read: the kick in the pants that I needed!), I was super excited.

Our hostess Lucie was awesome, and provided us with several different recipes for several different styles of kolache. Which, I'm going to be honest with you, was all new to me! I didn't know there were so many varieties! I wanted to make ones similar to the sourdough ones I'd made, so I chose to make Moravian Kolache. The main difference between these and the sourdough version that I made (other than, you know, the sourdough...) is that these Moravian kolache have two fillings rather than just one.

But first, we need dough! The dough comes together really easily.

In one bowl, some yeast is prepared - mixed with sugar and milk, some flour sprinkled on top...

...and whoa does it take off!

Then, in the bowl to the stand mixer, all of the rest of the ingredients are combined! This includes flour, confectioners' sugar, egg yolks, a bit more milk (I used coconut milk) and some butter (I used coconut oil).

Add the yeast mixture, knead for ten minutes and the result is a beautiful, silky, smooth dough.

And that yeast continues to work its magic, as an hour later...

And then we're ready to roll!

I don't have a biscuit cutter, so to make my circles, I use my favorite cutter:

A drinking glass.

Then came the hard part. The filling. Or... fillings. The fillings that Lucie shared with us for the challenge recipe are a quark (cheese) filling for the inside and a plum jam filling for the top. I wanted to keep these dairy free for little man, so I decided to play around with different things that I had at home.

I first tried a s'mores inspiration.

That's a marshmallow that I put on the dough round, then wrapped it up, then put some chocolate chips on the top.

Then I tried to go somewhat similar to the traditional version in the challenge.

That's a small spoon of non-dairy Greek-style coconut milk yogurt for the inside, then a drizzle of homemade peach jam on the top.

And just for fun I made one more version.

There's Biscoff in that one.

I had to bake them in shifts, seeing as I had so many pans going, but the results?

Totally worth waiting for.

And we each had our favorite. Little man went with Biscoff. Little miss, s'mores.

Daddy and I? We couldn't get enough of the yogurt and peach ones.

Seriously, you can't go wrong with these. The dough is amazing and the possibilities are endless for flavors, fillings and combinations. I definitely think I'll be making these a lot more often.

Lucie, thank you so much for this delicious challenge and for the amazing inspiration!

To see the challenge as Lucie presented it to us, which I highly recommend, because there are lots of other amazing recipes to try, check it out here.

In a small bowl, mix together the yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar. Add 1/4 cup of the warm milk, mix well and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of flour. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 10 – 15 minutes.
In the bowl of your stand mixer (or in a large bowl) mix flour, sugar, salt, egg yolks, butter (coconut oil), remaining 3/4 cup milk and leavened yeast. Knead with dough hook (or with wooden spoon) on low speed for about 10 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for about one hour until doubled in volume.
Meanwhile prepare your fillings and set them aside.
Prepare streussel topping - In a medium bowl, mix together 1/4 cup sugar and 1/3 cup flour. Add 1/4 cup cold, diced butter, and, with your fingers, mix all ingredients until crumbly.
When the dough has risen, preheat the oven to 340 degrees.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll it with rolling pin to a thickness of about 3/4 inch. Cut into rounds of approximately 4 inches around.. Press each piece flat with your hands and fill with filling of your choice. Wrap the dough around the filling into a “purse” shape. Put each kolach onto a prepared baking sheet with seam down. Press each kolach in the middle to create a little dent in the middle. Brush it with egg wash and fill holes with your second filling. Sprinkle it with streusel topping.
Bake for about 20 minutes to golden brown.
Enjoy!

Double-thank to you Shelley :-) For baking with me and of course for a chance to be a host. Your kolaches sounds little exotic to Czech people but I think my dad would love kolaches with marschmallows inside.